Devil's Water
by dyk3adellic
Summary: The one where Ginny Weasley is a recovering addict, Draco Malfoy is her sponsor, and Neville Longbottom is best friends with everyone.
1. Chapter 1

Ginny paced the floor of her flat, venting out loud to no one. That morning, as she had sat in the locker room snorting cocaine, she had been caught by Gwenog Jones, her captain. An explosive argument had ensued, and Ginny was given an ultimatum- either take six months to get clean and go to daily twelve step meetings, or she would be booted off the team for good.

"I mean this whole thing is ridiculous! I am not some addict! I just use to get through the day. It isn't my fault that cocaine is the only thing that helps my depression," she complained to her mirror.

The mirror sighed but otherwise remained silent. It had long ago stopped speaking to her, having its warnings about Ginny's drug use fall on deaf ears. As Ginny gazed into the mirror for the first time in moths, she noticed how thin her face had gotten. She turned her face this way and that way to get a better look. She knew her clothes had become loose on her, but her face was entirely too thin.

As she looked closer, she noticed the bags under her eyes. Not that they were unusual. In fact, Ginny hardly ever slept, and when she did her dreams were filled with nightmares. Some of it was memories of Tom Riddle. Some of it was the people who had died in her arms during the Final Battle. Some of it was the year she had been tortured by the Carrows. So really, who could blame her for using?

Despite her anger at being ordered to go, Ginny knew she would attend the Narcotics Anonymous meetings. Hopefully, it was as anonymous as the name suggested. If it wasn't, Ginny's career as a professional Quidditch player would be done for.

From Ginny's understanding, the meeting was led by a Squib in Muggle London. Ginny donned her Muggle clothing so as to fit in. She check her reflection in the mirror, and deeming herself appropriate, she set out to go to this stupid, bloody meeting.

Ginny was grateful for Hermione's teaching as she took the subway. She consulted the map periodically, getting off at the outskirts of London.

She almost walked right past the building that was once a sewing workshop. It was old and the windows were very dusty. The sign in the window was barely legible as it said: Before and After; Narcotics Anonymous Meetings.

She checked her keg holster where she kept her wand. There would be Muggles as well as wizards at this meeting, so there would be no need to run in with wands blazing and scare everyone.

When Ginny gathered the courage to open the door, the smell of coffee and doughnuts hit her, causing her mouth to water. She barely registered the people in the room or the literature stacked on the tables. She made a beeline for the coffee, pouring it into one of the styrofoam cups.

While she sipped her coffee and munched her doughnut, Ginny looked around herself and took everything in. The chairs were arranged in a circle. Some of the chairs had a person sitting in them- like the chair holding Draco Malfoy.

Ginny almost spit out the bite of coffee soaked doughnut. His hair was much darker, but Ginny would recognize the pale, pointed face anywhere. Except he wasn't really pale anymore. In fact, he looked like he saw more sun than Ginny did, and she was a professional Quidditch player!

Draco hadn't looked up. He had some sort of cord running from a black box in his ears. He was bobbing his hard as though there was music that only he could hear playing. For a moment Ginny questioned his sanity.

But then suddenly, Muggles she had never met were greeting her, showering her with hugs, and telling her how happy they were to have her at the meeting. Her view of Draco was obstructed, so when he was suddenly guiding her to the back Ginny was surprised- though how she could have missed all six feet of him walking towards him she wasn't quite sure.

"Why are you here?" Ginny demanded when they were as alone as they were going to get.

"Probably for being an addict like you," he answered.

"I'm not an addict!" she hissed venomously.

Draco arched a brow, and Ginny expected him to call her a liar. She had a retort ready on her lips for him, but he didn't argue. He merely shrugged and moved on with the conversation.

"Is this your first meeting?" he asked.

Ginny nodded as dread knotted itself up in her stomach. Suddenly, the doughnut didn't seem like it was such a good idea.

"I won't tell anyone I saw you here as long as you won't tell anyone you saw me here," Draco bargained.

Ginny rolled her eyes and said, "Like I would ever admit to being here with you."

Draco chuckled as he said, "Okay, Red. Make sure you behave in front of the Muggles.

Ginny simply responded by rolling her eyes as Draco brushed past her, his cologne lingering after him. Ginny followed suit, sitting next to Draco just in case she needed to be told to behave in front of the Muggles. Draco checked his watch, cleared his throat, and began speaking.

"We are going to start our meeting with a moment of silence for the still suffering addict followed by the serenity prayer," Draco said.

Silence filled the room and heads were suddenly bowed. Ginny felt very out of place, and panic began to set in.

"Moment," Draco said, "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

"Anyone want to read 'Who is an Addict?'" Draco asked, and hands raised as people volunteered for the honor.

As Draco chose someone to read, Ginny realized that a squib didn't lead the meetings; Draco did.

Ginny felt like she was going to hyperventilate. She heard the voice reading from what felt like a great distance.

"We didn't become addicted in one day, so remember, easy does it."

Ginny balked at the word 'addicted.' She bwasn't/b an addict. She could stop anytime she wanted to do so.

Ginny hadn't realized she had actually voiced that thought until Draco turned in his chair to face her.

"So stop. Just don't use for a month," he said easily.

"But then I have nightmares about You-Know-Who," she explained.

Draco shrugged. "I dream about what he made me do every night, and I've now been clean for five years. So if it is as simple as you say, Red, then just prove it to me. Stay clean. One month," Draco said softly.

Ginny huffed. "Fine, I will."

Draco motioned for the person to continue reading aloud.

Ginny spent the rest of the meeting staring into space and sneaking looks at the dirty blond Draco Malfoy with biceps. Had he really been clean for five years? Was he really an addict? What had he used? Thoughts and questions whirled around inside Ginny's head.

Ginny planned on being the first person out of the door when the meeting ended, but when the moment came, her feet wouldn't carry her, For a moment, she was stuck as everyone else left.

When it was just her and Draco, she found herself more relaxed. She observed Draco stacking chairs and emptying out the coffee pot before she was able to muster the courage to speak to him again.

"What were you addicted to?" Ginny asked.

"I iam/I addicted to heroin," Draco answered.

"I thought you said you have been clean for five years," Ginny retorted.

Draco nodded as he said, "I have been, but addiction doesn't work like that. Once an addict, always an addict. These meetings are the only thing proven to help."

"I'm not an addict," Ginny stubbornly said.

Draco sucked his teeth in thought for a moment before saying, "But if you were, that would be okay. Addiction isn't a death sentence unless you make it one."

"That is nice for people who are addicts," Ginny said simply.

Draco folded his arms and stared at her as though he were assessing her or debating what to say next.

"Do you have a phone?" he asked.

Ginny shook her head no.

"Let me give you one. Even if you aren't an addict, your body may be physically dependent on what you were using. Any time you ingest something too frequently your body starts needing it to function., So suddenly stopping can and most likely will make you very sick. So here," he said and handed her a cell phone. "Call me if it gets too bad."

Ginny took it and looked it over a minute. The phone was a simple flip phone; one like what Hermione had taught her to use. Ginny wasn't surprised to see Draco's number was already programmed into it.

"Thanks, I guess," Ginny mumbled as she pocketed the phone.

Draco walked over to one of the tables, grabbed a book, turned back to Ginny, and handed her the small pocket size book.

"That is the Alcoholics Anonymous book. It's great at explaining the difference between the user and the addict. Just mentally replace the word alcoholic with addict. Educate yourself even if you aren't an addict. Someone you know probably is, Red," Draco instructed her.

While Ginny highly doubted that anyone she knew was an addict, even she had to admit there was nothing wrong with being educated on a problem she didn't have. It would be the perfect way to show Gwenog that Ginny Weasley was in fact NOT an addict.

"So when is the next meeting?" Ginny asked.

Draco turned back to the table, grabbed a schedule, and handed it to Ginny.

"This is our schedule. You iwill/i see people you know at some of these meetings. All I ask is that you respect their right to confidentiality and anonymity."

Ginny nodded and said, "I can do that. I imagine these meetings are helpful to those who are addicts, and I wouldn't want to hinder that."

Draco gave a small smile as he said, "I appreciate that, and I like to think these meetings do help. They certainly have helped me quite a bit. I owe my life to this program."

"Why did you use?" Ginny found herself asking, her curiosity piqued.

Draco took a deep breath, sucked his teeth, and then answered.

"During the war I saw so many people killed in my own home. Some of them I was forced to torture. He would stand behind me, his wand trained on my mother, and he would torture her if I didn't torture the person in front of me."

Draco shook his head. "You and I both knew how sadistic he was, and I didn't want to remember any of that. I wanted to be completely numb. I didn't want to see my victims' screaming faces every time I breathed, and it was really that bad. I couldn't live with what I had done, and heroin numbed me completely. It didn't take long for me to become addicted to it."

Ginny felt empathy for Draco, and she lightly rested her tiny hand on his broad shoulder. She hadn't expected such open honesty from him, and she felt in her bones that Draco had changed for the better.

"I'll be here tomorrow," Ginny promised.

Draco nodded and said, "Call me if you need me."

Ginny nodded and walked out; she easily blended in with the crowd, and in the blink of an eye, Draco had lost sight of her.

He only hoped she really would be back.


	2. Chapter 2

Ginny woke up the next morning feeling as if the Hogwarts Express had hit her twice. Her nose was running, her body ached, and she kept throwing up.

Without even thinking, Ginny reached for where she normally kept her stash of cocaine only to find it empty. She groaned as she remembered flushing it down the toilet the previous night after the Narcotics Anonymous meeting.

"What the fuck?" she complained.

She recalled what Draco had told her the day before about physical dependency. Was that what this was? Or did she simply need a Pepper-Up Potion?

Ginny dug through her potions bag, found the Pepper-Up Potion, and downed it in five gulps. Smoke streamed out of her ears, and Ginny stood there waiting for relief that never came.

"Are you fucking serious?!" she screamed as she threw the empty potion bottle against the wall and listened to it shatter.

Ginny felt the pressure of a migraine building in her head, and she was beyond pissed.

"Where is my fucking cell?" she whined to the empty room.

She wanted to collapse back into bed, do a line of coke, and then go to see George. They always ate together on Wednesdays. It was something they had started after Fred passed away. As much as Ginny loved Ron-and Merlin knew it was a lot-she had always been closer to the twins.

Missing lunch with George wasn't an option. Not with as depressed as he had been as of late. Ginny licked her lips and looked at the cookie jar where she kept her emergency stash. It had only enough for two lines in it, but Ginny just needed to get through the lunch. She didn't even think as she grabbed the cookie jar.

Inside was a small baggie with cocaine in it and a clean straw. She set the bag on the counter, opened it, and set up the two lines. She snorted them up, enjoying the sweet burn, and after a few minutes she felt immensely better.

"I'll quit using tomorrow," she promised the air. "I just have to meet George today."

Guilt churned in her stomach, but she knew what she was doing. She had this. She was going to quit. Tomorrow.

She hopped in the shower, forgetting all about Draco and her cell phone with his number in it in case she had felt exactly this way.

Ginny used make-up to cover up the bags under her eyes. She put Sleak Easy in her hair, making the curls perfect. She primped in front of the mirror for a moment before Apparating to the entrance of Diagon Alley and entering.

Diagon Alley was filled with people; people who turned and stared as she walked by, and a few were brave enough to ask for her autograph. Ginny reveled in the support of her fans. She was on top of the world. So why did Gwenog Jones think she was some kind of addict?

Ginny made it to the newly opened Diagon Alley branch of the Three Broomsticks, and she practically skipped inside she was so joyous.

Her almost-skipping stopped the moment she saw George's face with such a grim look on it. She walked slowly to the table, and seated herself in front of George. Ginny noted the firewhisky in his glass.

He pushed a Butterbeer across the table to her. Ginny sipped at it and waited for George to start talking, but it became quickly apparent that he didn't wish to be the one to begin the conversation.

"George?" she asked softly, noting the slightly glassy look of his eyes. "How long have you been waiting for me?"

George shrugged but offered no explanation. So he wanted to do this the hard way, eh? Ginny was more than capable of dealing with George when he was like this.

"Are you going to talk to me?" she asked as she tapped his glass of whisky in order to focus his attention onto her and the table.

George sighed and ran a hand over the beard that was starting to grow on his face.

"How did we get here?" he asked, his voice cracking and his eyes shining with unshed tears.

"What do you mean, George?" Ginny asked tenderly.

George sat there for a moment, contemplating his glass before he answered her.

"I am screwing my dead twin brother's girl friend in order to feel closer to him. Hell, I don't even like Angelina, and I am pretty sure she resents me for being the twin to live."

Ginny's first thought was that she needed cocaine to figure out how to respond to George's confession, but cocaine wasn't available. so Ginny had to try and refocus.

"George, he is gone, and I know I don't understand the twin connection, but you won't see him until the day you die," Ginny murmured.

George nodded, took a deep breath, looked Ginny dead in the eye, and said, "Then maybe I should just kill myself."

Ginny's blood was running cold. George was hurting, and no one alive could alleviate his suffering. And Ginny was so scared that this would be their last conversation. That she would somehow fail George and lose her brother to Death because George was very much like the second brother with the Resurrection Stone in the tales of Beedle the Bard.

"George, you wouldn't be saying this if you hadn't been over drinking again," Ginny reprimanded.

George shrugged and said, "So maybe I'm an alcoholic, but at this point what does it matter?"

"It matters because I love you! You are my big brother, and right now I need you!" Ginny shouted, not even realizing she had half the bar's attention.

"What is so wrong with your picture perfect life?" George asked.

Ginny contemplated telling George everything. How she had been suspended from the team for using drugs. How Harry had once again chosen work over them, and they were in fact off again which made family dinners really fucking awkward. How she couldn't sleep without reliving Tom raping her in the Chamber. How she saw the faces of their dead loved ones every time she closed her eyes, so she tried to keep her eyes open and alert as much as possible. Ginny contemplated being brutally honest for just one moment.

But instead of saying that, Ginny said, "I know my life looks perfect, but right now the very foundation of it is crumbling. I need you to be okay; otherwise I won't be okay."

George gave her a long, measured look and nodded.

"Fine, but eventually you will have to tell me what is wrong," George told her as he reached across the table for her Butterbeer like he used to do when they were in school, but Ginny slapped his hand away.

"Get your own, dork. And maybe one day I'll tell you, but for now let's do lunch."

Ginny took the rest of George's whisky and tossed its contents in a nearby potted plant. George didn't bother to comment on that.

"So," Ginny began after they had ordered, "How is business?"

George nodded. "Business is amazing, actually. The numbers are in, and Weasley Wizard Wheezes is outselling Zonko's by quite a large margin."

Ginny nodded her head, thoroughly impressed. Despite his depression, George was still managing his business very well. It was no longer just a joke shop; George sold so many dark detectors these days that he couldn't keep them in stock, Everyone was on edge expecting the remaining free Death Eaters to make themselves be known. It wasn't uncommon for the Dark Mark to be seen in the sky randomly, a reminder that Tom's people were still hoping for their Master's return.

"How is Quidditch?" George asked.

Ginny forced a smile. "It is good. I haven't been practicing as much. I'm taking a sort of vacation from it."

"Why?" George asked with a furrowed brow.

Ginny shrugged and said, "Gwenog and I are butting heads. Everything has to be done her way. I just need a break so I can come back fresh."

"Yeah," George said while chewing his food, his bad manners showing, something their mother would have berated him for, "I've heard she is really difficult to work with. Just remember, she IS the captain of the team."

Ginny faked a smile as she said, "I know, George," and the guilt ate her alive inside.


End file.
